Mom's Curry Yogurt Marinade

This marinade give chicken or turkey for curry that extra depth of flavor

that you usually only find in an authentic Indian restaurant. This make enough for about 1-2 pounds of meat. It also freezes well so you can make extra & store it in a gallon zippered freezer bag. When you are ready to use just take it out of the freezer, let it thaw then add the meat right into the bag to marinade. 

1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 yellow onion  or 2-3 green "Florida onions"; chopped
2 cloves roasted garlic crushed
1 1/4 cups plain yogurt
juice of 2 lemons
5 Tbsp olive oil
5 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsp white or red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tsp ground ginger (or fresh grated if you have it)
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in large bowl then pour over poultry in a large zippered gallon bag & let marinate for  2 hours up-to over night.

Aunt Ann's Chicken Curry

For best results marinade the chicken or turkey in "Mom's Curry Yogurt Marinade" for 2 hours up-to over night then grill.

1 Tablespoon butter
1 cup chopped peeled apple
1 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon curry powder
3/4 cup cold cooked chicken or turkey broth
2 cups coconut milk
2 cups cooked chicken or turkey
1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder

1. In saucepan melt butter
2. Add apple, celery, onion & garlic - Cook until onion is tender
3. Combine cornstarch, curry, salt & broth - Stir into onion mixture
4. Add Coconut milk - Cook & stir until mixture thickens and boils
5. Stir in chicken & mushrooms. Heat through.
6. Serve hot over rice 

Suggested toppings:

raisins, shredded coconut,  chopped peanuts and chutney, rita

Healthy Eggplant Parm

 Eggplant and I have had our run-ins in the past. Its taste, texture, the fact that it absorbs so much oil when you fry it...all these and more have contributed to my aversion to cooking it. Once, many years ago, I was served a sumptuous Eggplant Parmesan that rocked my preconceived notions about this vegetable. However, every recipe I have attempted has failed so miserably that for years I have been content not to butt heads with eggplant again. Until this week. We joined a CSA and our first weeks box contained not just one but two of my vegetable nemesis. Determined to succeed  at last I searched for recipes to make this eggplant a palatable success. Not finding a single one to my liking I decided to combine what I felt were the best elements of several and set out to conquer  the eggplant.   

Ingredients: 

1 egg
1/2 cup Breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon basil
salt & pepper to taste
1 eggplant peeled & sliced into 1/2 inch slices

Sprinkle a teaspoon of salt over the eggplant and set in a colander to drain. Not much water comes out but it helps draw out the bitter flavor of the eggplant.

Set up a dredging station, I found bread-pans worked great for this. 

In the first pan whisk one egg with a tablespoon of water. In the second pan combine Breadcrumbs, Parmesan, herbs and salt and pepper.

Dip eggplant slices into egg mix then into breadcrumb mix and place on parchment coated pans. Sorry, no picture of this step, way to hard to use a camera when your hands are covered in egg and breadcrumbs!

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes then flip and bake an additional 20 minutes.

Top slices of eggplant with your favorite marinara sauce and a slice of Parmesan cheese. Here is a couple slices already to go in my lunch box. Yummy!

I had this for lunch everyday this week and it was delish! Finally a successful eggplant recipe. 

Pizza and Breadsticks

This recipe makes great  pizza crust and breadsticks

Base Recipe:

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Optional Ingrediants:

1 Tablespoon Pizza Seasoning (Italian Seasoning makes an acceptable substitute if you don't have Pizza Seasoning)
2 Tablespoons Cheese Powder
 

 Mix all ingredients together until dough is pulling away from side of bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Let the dough rise in a draft-free place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Place on baking sheet covered in parchment. Press gently until it starts to pull back. Cover with Plastic wrap and let it rest.

After a rest of 20-30 minutes press it again until it shrinks back. Repeat until you reach the edge of the tray.

Now it is ready to become Pizza or Breadsticks!

For Breadsticks:

Melt 1 stick butter
Add 1 glove minced garlic 
1 Tablespoon fresh Pasley
1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan 

Brush the butter mix on the dough and slice about 1/2 inch thick with a pizza cutter. Separate slightly and bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Serve with your favorite marinara.

Or you can make it into a pizza with any of your favorite toppings. I choose a Greek Pizza since it combines all our favorite flavors

For Greek Pizza:

Bake the crust for 5 minutes at 425. Then top with
Marinara
Sliced Tomatos
Cucumbers
Kalamata Olives
Sliced Artichoke Hearts
Parmasan Cheese
Fresh Basil Leaves
Cubed Chicken 

Bake for 15 minutes at 425.

Homemade Greek Yogurt

Did you know you can make your own yogurt in the crockpot? It is relatively simple and the health factor is much higher than store bought because you control the ingredients. I started doing this a few months ago and my very picky husband has declared this yogurt far superior to any other he has tried. I also have other family members who put in standing orders for their portion of my weekly batch. One has lost quite a bit a weight due to swapping out her normal breakfast for a cup of this yogurt and some fruit each morning. Because of the high protein content it keeps her full until the next meal but the minimal fat contact also works in her favor. 

Choose a day when you will be home most of the time to make this. It takes minimal effort but timing is important.

To get started you will need:

1 cup yogurt starter (I love Stonyfield organic whole milk yogurt)
1 gallon milk (I use 2% lactose free since we are lactose intolerant) 
Crockpot
Small whisk and Bowl
Sieve and large bowl that it will fit over
Cheesecloth or coffee filters
Containers to hold yogurt when finished

Note: This recipe will yield about 1/2 gallon yogurt. You can half the amount if you don't need this much

Directions:

Pour milk into crockpot and turn on low for two and a half hours.
Turn the crockpot off and let it sit for 3 hours
Spoon a few cups of the warmish milk into your small bowl and add the yogurt starter
Whisk together
Then add back into your crockpot and give a stir to make sure it is fully combined
Put lid back on crockpot and then wrap your crockpot in two beach towels
Allow it to sit for 8 hours
Line your sieve with cheesecloth or large coffee filter and place over your bowl
Fill the sieve with yogurt and let sit until it reaches your desired consistency, I usually let it go over night but as little as two hours will produce a thick Greek yogurt.
Transfer to your containers and refrigerate.

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread

After trying three different recipes for bland and tasteless Pumpkin Zucchini bread I decided to develop my own recipe. After several attempts, serving my husband slices of bread and asking "what else does this need?" I finally came up with this winner.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon almond extract
• 12 oz pumpkin puree
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1 cup butter melted
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon Lemon zest
• 1 cup chopped or ground walnuts, almonds, currants, raisins, coconut (optional)

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Preparation Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Canola cooking oil spray two bread loaf pans (or 5-6 mini pans).
3. Mix eggs, sugar and vanilla in a bowl.
4. Stir in pumpkin puree and butter
5. Mix flour, baking soda, and spices in a separate bowl.
6. Stir dry ingredients into the first bowl containing the egg mixture.
7. Stir in the shredded zucchini.
8. Stir in nuts and other optionals, if you are using them.
9. Divide the batter into the bread loaf pans.
10. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 45 to 50 minutes.
11. Test bread with a knife or a toothpick to see if it is done. Insert the knife into the bread. If it doesn't come out clean, bake for an additional 5 minutes and re-test.
12. Remove the bread from the oven and let set for ten minutes.
13. Remove the bread from the pan, and place on a wire rack to cool

1 Recipe, 5 Base Ingredients, 7 Different Cookies

For this year's Christmas cookies I didn't have a lot of time, so I choose my most popular recipe and adjusted the flavors so that I would have a variety without having to buy a lot of additional ingredients. Each night I made one batch of cookies and after a week I had a great variety of Christmas cookies. They were such a huge hit that I was recruited to make another collection of them for the ladies tea party in April.  The texture of these cookies - ultra tender, ethereally light, melt-in-your mouth-is unlike anything you can get from a traditional cookie recipe.  The secret is over 200 years old - baker's ammonia. My base recipe is from the 1800's when baker's ammonia was a traditional ingredient in cookies.  

NOTE: Do Not eat the raw dough of these cookies. The ammonia cooks off during the cooking. You may smell a strong ammonia odor while these cookies are baking but never fear - by the time they come out of the oven the odor will be gone. Can they be made without the bakers ammonia? Sure, substitute 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder. Just be aware that the texture will not be nearly as good. Bakers ammonia is available at the local pharmacy or via mail order from King Arthur Flour. It is well worth getting for the texture of these cookies.

Base Ingredients

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baker's ammonia

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 300. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In medium bowl beat together sugar, butter, salt, flavoring. Add flour & any dry flavoring and baker's ammonia and beat until the dough almost comes together. The dough will seem quite dry at first, but keep beating, eventually it will clump up and become cohesive. This could take up to five minutes.
• Squeeze the dough together, gather it into a ball, and scoop out pieces the size of a large gumball. Roll the pieces into a ball, then roll them in the coating ingredient.  Place them on the baking sheet and use the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar to flatten the balls to about 1/4 inch thick.
• Bake the cookies for 25 to 30 minutes until they are light golden brown around the edges.

Vanilla Dreams

Add

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons almond extract

Coating:

• Coarse sugar

Almond Dreams

Add:

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons almond extract

Substitute:

• 1/4 cup almond flour for 1/4 of base flour

Coating:

Crushed almonds mixed with course sugar

Lemon Dreams

Add

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons lemon extract

• 2 Tablespoons lemon zest

Coating:

• Coarse sugar

Chocolate Dreams

Add:

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons almond extract

Substitute:

• 1/4 cup cocoa powder  for 1/4 of base flour

Coating:

• Crushed almonds mixed with course sugar

• For Christmas use crushed almonds mixed with Christmas sprinkles for a festive touch

Coconut Dreams

Add:

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 teaspoons coconut extract

Substitute:

• 1 cup coconut  for 1/4 of base flour

Coating:

• Coconut  mixed with course sugar

Orange Dreams

Add

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 teaspoons orange extract

• 2 Tablespoons orange zest

Coating:

• Coarse sugar

Mint Chocolate Dreams

Add:

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 Tablespoons mint extract

Coating:

• Dip half the cookie in high quality melted chocolate and set on cooling rack to harden
• For a festive touch at Christmas - sprinkle Christmas sprinkles over melted chocolate before it cools.